Wheel-balancer-static type



March 30, 1937;

C. C. BENNETT WHEEL BALANCER-STATIC TYPE Fil ed Jan. 14, 1935 W U W 7 6 F. 4 33 4 2 8 T H ,5\ I n 7. 5 1 v m w u HI . ZIYWCMO'D Claude C. Bennett Patented Mar. 30, 1937 wnnan-aau'ncsasrarrc 'rvra Claude 0. Bennett, South Bend, lnd., asslgnor to A. E. Feragen, Inc., Seattle, Wasln, a corporation of Washington Application January 14, 1935, Serial No. 1,688

Claims.

My invention relates to wheel balancing stands, particularly such as are intended for the balancing of automobile wheels, which must be balanced Y carefully to avoid shimmy and like disturbances 5 in the steering of the car, and undue tire wear.

One of the objects of the present invention is to devise a wheel balancing stand which is adaptable to use with various types of automobile wheels, and which must therefore have a small axialpart which extends through the central aperture in the wheel, after the same has been removed from the spindle assembly and hub.

A further object is to provide means which a areaccessible from above the wheel to raise the 5 wheel and its support upona fulcrum, so that it may swing free and thereby show the presence or absence of unbalance.

A further object is to provide in such a wheel balancing stand a convenient means for checking the wobble of the wheel. whether or not it is balanced.

A further object is to provide means whereby the location of the point of maximum or minimum unbalance may be pointed out deflnitely and accurately.

A further object is to provide such a wheel balancing stand which is simple yet rugged in construction, and which can be made inexpensively.

with the above and other objects in view, as

will appear hereafter, my invention comprises the novel parts, and the novel combination and arrangement thereof, as shown in the accompanylug-drawing, described in this specification, and

as will be more particularly pointed out by the claims which terminate the same.

' In the accompanying drawing I have shown my invention embodied in forms which are at present preferred by me,

40 Figure 1 is a. general. axial sectional view through the wheel balancing stand.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the indicating and pointing device,- which may be employed in con- .Iunction with the stand. I

Figure 3 is an enlarged axial section of a modifled detail of the fulcrum arrangement.

The device consists of four principal partsthe stand I, the wheel. support 2, the vertical adjusting means 3, and the indicating device I.

The stand may conveniently consist of a postsupported upright in a suitable base I0, and having at its-upper end a true surface'such .as a

conical seat ll. Above this surface II the stand may be provided with a reduced extensiod l2 j a few which maybe disregarded. In inside diameter the sleeve It needs only to be large enough Y the coned surface previously referred to. The 3 terminating in a point I3 which forms a fulcrum. I

The fulcrum may take any suitable form.

The wheel supporting element may consist of a table with which is associated an axially disposed, upwardly extending sleeve 2|, or any equivalent element, carrying a bearing piece, hereafter described, to rest upon the universal fulcrum l8, thereby to support the wheel support from a point close to but somewhat spaced above the combined center of gravity of the wheel support and a wheel W centered thereon. The sleeve Al need not be as large in proportion to other parts as it is shown in the drawing, andpreferably is not, being exaggerated in the drawing for greater convenience in illustration. It should be at least suillciently small in diameter that it .will pass through the center opening in the to lit-over the reduced extension i2, and to have sufliclent clearance to permit some movement transversely with respect thereto.

The sleeve 2| may conveniently be flanged at 22 to support the table I, and may have a conical surface 23 formed at its lower end to rest upon sleeve may. be exteriorly threaded, whereby a cone 2, having an aperture of a size to pass over the threadm niay hold the wheel to the table 2 and center it thereon by engagement within the flange F of the wheel, being held in position by a. nut 25. Thus held, the wheel is coaxial with the table and sleeve, and its plane, if the wheel is true, is precisely normal to the axis of the wheel-supporting element.

The screw I is threaded at It in the upper part of the sleeve 2|, and may be provided with a hole I for the reception of a cross pin,'whereby it may be turned. The lower end ofthis screw may be brought to bear directly upon the fulcrum l3; as shown in Figure 3, being guided by acollar 32 engaging the inside of the bore of the sleeve,

in which case the end of screw would be hardened, as would the fulcrum l l, but preferably the screw bears upon a block", slidahly received in the bore of the sleeve and resting upon the fulcrum It. This block, at least in its bearins portions, may be hardened to prevent wear.

The wheel support 2 may normally rest upon the coned surface II, the screw 3 being re- 5 tracted to permit this, and while the support is thus firmly supported a wheel may be placed in position upon it,-in the manner described. Now the screw, is threaded into the sleeve,

whereupon the wheel support is lifted from the conical surface Ii and is supported uponthe fulcrum ii. If the wheel is unbalanced, the heavy side will drop, and the light side will rise. The rise or fall of the wheel may be indicated by .such a device as is indicated generally bythe '15 numeral 4, which, as shown, consists of a balanced block 40 having a central aperture 4| which may fit about 'a reduced cylindrical portion 21 at the upp r end of the sleeve, the block bearing bubble tubes 42 and 41, disposed at 20 right. angles to each other, and these bubble tubeswill indicate if the block, and consequently the wheel support, is out of balance. In addition a pointer 44 may be carried by the block 40, and this pointer may be moved around the 25 portion 21 of the sleeve until it points toward that part of the wheel which is raised or which .has dropped, thereby indicating either the point of least weight orthe point of most weight, as the case may be.

carried upon an arm 50 supported from the stand, which will also give an indication of which part of the wheel has risen and which 35 has dropped. This contact finger i may also the wheel is slowly turned, supported either on the conical surface II or upon the fulcrum II, the pointer i will indicate which part of the 40 wheel is high and which part is low. If the wheel is supported on the fulcrum [3 during this operation it should be raised but slightly from the conical surface iii, so that unbalance will not affect the indication of wobble, and the- 45 conical surface will serve to steady the wheel support and prevent its wobbling as the wheel is rotated. a

What I claim as my invention is: 1. A wheel balancing stand comprising a wheel 50 support, a stand whereon the support may rest,

terminating at its upper end in a universal fulcrum, a sleeve adapted to pass through the axial openings of a wheel to be balanced, axially disposed and projecting upwardly from the wheel In addition I may employ a contact finger I serve to indicate wobble in the wheel, for as support, a bearing member carried by said sleeve and adapted to support the sleeve and a wheel thereon from said fulcrum, whereby tilting of the support will disclose unbalance of such a wheel, a cylindrical post axially disposed at the upper end of said sleeve, 8. block having a hole coaxial with its center of balance, and fitting said post, a pointer projecting laterally from said block, and two bubble tubes carried by said block, and disposed substantially at right angles to each other in a normally horizontal-plane.

2. The combination of claim 1, wherein the pointer is disposed parallel to one bubble tube,

and at right angles to the other.

3. A wheel balancing machine comprising a stand, a horizontally disposed support to carry a wheel to be balanced, a fulcrum carried by said stand adapted to engage said support at the supports axis for universal tilting movement thereof, a pointer projecting laterally from the axis of said supportvand rotatable about such axis relatively to said support, and gravity-acthe supports axis for universal tilting movement thereof, a pointer mounted upon and projectand additional gravity-actuated means to indicate the direction of tilt, in said plane, of the supports axis.

5. A wheel balancing machine comprising a stand, a horizontally disposed support to carry a wheel to be balanced, a fulcrum carried by said stand adapted to engage said support at the supports axis for universal tilting movement thereof, a pointer projecting laterally from the axis of said support and rotatable about such axis relatively to said support, a bubble tube mounted to rotate with said pointer to be disposed, for all pointer positions,normal to the plane defined by said pointer and said supports axis, and a second bubble tube disposed at anangle to said first bubble tube and normal to said supports axis.

in laterally from the axis of said support, to tilt CLAUDE C. BENNETT. 

